Easton runs its way to 8-7 win, 2-0 series lead

Youth continues to be served in the Blue Mountain League Championship Series.

The young, spunky Easton Falcons, featuring a team of nine first-year players and 11 other guys who have been in the league for five years or less, are now one win away from winning their first BML championship.

Perhaps the Falcons are too inexperienced to realize that they are not supposed to be doing what they are doing, like banging out 16 hits and rallying from 6-3 deficit to beat the Hellertown Royals 8-7 on Saturday at Easton High School to take a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five series.

The Falcons franchise, in just their sixth year of existence, can clinch the amateur league crown at 1:30 today at Hellertown's Dimmick Park.

If they can win just one of the next three games, Easton will have pulled off one of the biggest surprises in the BML's 67-year history and end the Royals' three-year run as champs.

"I'm thankful to be in this position, but it still isn't over by a long shot," said ever-cautious Easton co-manager Ellis Weitzman. "Hellertown didn't get here without being an excellent ballclub."

Frankly, everybody who follows the BML knows how good the Royals are. They have been in the BML's final four for the past 12 seasons, and they entered this title series as the top seed and fresh off a semifinal sweep of Limeport.

After falling behind 3-0 in the bottom of the first, Hellertown seemed to have taken control of the game, and possibly, the series, when it scored in three consecutive innings.

Kevin Thompson's two-run home run got the Royals on the board in the second and then Logan Winchester (3-for-4) and Mark Angelo singled in runs in a three-run third that put the Hellertown ahead. They made it 6-3 when Mike Bortz singled in a run in the fourth.

But Hellertown wouldn't score again and it was the Falcons who re-asserted themselves offensively.

In the fourth, a Kyle Dauscher single and Dan Eckel double preceded Brian Del Rosso's two-run triple. The fleet Del Rosso then scored the tying run on a wild pitch.

"I try to make a difference on the bases," Del Rosso said. "If I can get the pitchers to worry about keeping me off second or out of scoring position, it can give our hitters more fastballs and give them the advantage. It's big when you can change a pitcher's game plan with speed."

Del Rosso, a Phillipsburg product who had two hits, swiped three bases (including home) and scored two runs in Easton's 4-2 Game 1 win on Wednesday, was a thorn in Hellertown's side again in the fifth.

With two out, Eckel doubled and Del Rosso followed with a RBI single to right.

Del Rosso stole second and then hustled all the way around the left side of the infield to score on a wild pitch.

"If you're going to go, you have to go right away. … you can't hesitate," Del Rosso said of his race around the bases. "You have to make a good read. I just saw it and was lucky enough to be safe."

As if he hadn't done enough with his bat and legs, Del Rosso used his arm to finish off the Royals.

Coming on in relief, he surrendered a run in the top of the sixth on Chris Sule's RBI single, but worked around a two-out walk in the seventh to nail down the Falcons 23rd win of the season after they started out 0-6.

"We can't take our foot off the pedal now" Del Rosso said. "We have to keep the gas on and go for the sweep."

Hellertown manager Bob Zerfass knows his team (25-11-1) is more than capable of winning three straight.

Right now, though, he'd take one win.

"If we can win one [Sunday] I'll be happy because you don't want to be swept in the playoffs," Zerfass said. "It's disappointing today because we had a 6-3 lead, but Easton puts the ball in play and we couldn't get a strikeout when we needed it. It was especially disappointing in the fifth inning when it was 6-6 and we had two outs and no one on base and still gave up two runs."

The Falcons got hits from everyone in the lineup, except, ironically, Howie Deemer, who is one of the BML's premier players.

"We could have died after seeing a 3-0 lead turn into a 6-3 deficit, but we didn't," Weitzman said. "Our kids came back in a big situation as they have all season. They just keep battling."